The construction of the army could not be completed overnight. Zhou Weiguo had to deal with military affairs, but at the same time, he could not let go of government affairs.
A county wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. Laiyang County only had 70,000 to 80,000 people. It wasn't a large population, but there were still large villages and towns. The entire county had a population of 200,000 to 300,000. Now, these two to three hundred thousand people were all under Zhou Weiguo's control, so he could not ignore them.
The first problem was the original tax collection. The Japanese's tax collection in China was not easy. According to the tax rate set by the Japanese, 80% of the grain that the common people worked hard to grow in a year had to be handed over. The remaining grain was not enough for the common people to eat.
Regarding this, Zhou Weiguo definitely had to change it. The taxes of the commoners were adjusted to 15%. Although compared to the farmers in the future who did not collect taxes, this 15% was still a little too much. However, one should not forget that China was still an agricultural country at this time, so agricultural taxes had to be collected at this time.
As for the business tax, the tax rate set by the Japanese army was also very high. As for the business tax, Zhou Weiguo changed it again, and the tax rate was still 15%. At the same time, the types of taxes would be reduced.
Previously, the Japanese had increased many types of taxes. Take the most deceptive one, the head tax.
The head tax was a tax system in ancient China, such as the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Originally, there was no head tax in this era, but after the Japanese came, they added it again. Zhou Weiguo hated this.
After that, there were other miscellaneous taxes that Zhou Weiguo canceled and reduced the types of taxes. This was only one way to restore the people's strength.
Next was another matter, which was to manage the place.
At this moment, Zhou Weiguo finally understood that in ancient times, especially in the Han and Tang Dynasties, the country could not do without the aristocratic families. Even though they knew the dangers of the aristocratic families, they still used them.
Because ruling the world required aristocratic families!
It was just like how Zhou Weiguo wanted to use the land owners in his own region.
Managing a county required a lot of manpower. For example, a village, a town, or a township. Managing these areas required corresponding talents to manage. Could ordinary people do all of this?
Zhou Weiguo couldn't do it alone, so he could only rely on those who had some culture and could read and write to manage it.
And what kind of person could read and write?
In this era, not everyone could go to school, and not everyone could go to school to read and write. Only rich families could send their children to school.
Therefore, the homes of the landowners and gentry were an important place for Zhou Weiguo to consider.
He did not want to use them, but he had no choice. This made Zhou Weiguo make a decision in his heart. After his territory expanded in the future, he would definitely set up education and cultivate talents. This kind of situation where no one could be used was the time when Zhou Weiguo felt the most helpless. Sometimes, he even wanted to throw those clones into the management. However, when he thought about how rigid the clones were, he decided not to.
However, before deciding on the managers of the towns, Zhou Weiguo had to do one more thing, and that was to identify the traitors. As time passed, countless people began to accuse the traitors, and those traitors were also found out one by one.
Those who had really defected to the Japanese army, such as the security guards, armor guards, and so on, as well as the maintenance guild leaders, were all found out. In addition, there were some people in the government who had sincerely sided with the Japanese army before. They had also done things that bullied the people. All of them were captured and killed by Zhou Weiguo.
At this time, someone would definitely say that they should clean up the entire government and replace all the previous people. After all, these people used to work for the Japanese. They were all traitors. But was that even possible? If everything was clear, who would manage it? Zhou Weiguo alone? Or did he rely on his illiterate bandits? Therefore, they could only be categorized. Those who had not bullied the people and did not have the ability to fish for food could be kept and used. Those who had done it would be executed. That was the only way. Otherwise, a county with hundreds of thousands of people would not be managed by the protagonist alone.
Time slowly passed, and the snow became heavier and heavier. The weather also became colder and colder. It was slowly approaching New Year's Eve.
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January 26, 1939
Today, Zhou Weiguo was sitting in the government department signing a batch of appointment orders. Some people who could read and write were hurriedly promoted by Zhou Weiguo to take up their posts. At the same time, he also handled a large number of matters.
"Master, there is someone outside the door who is paying a visit to you. He says that he is an old friend of yours!”
Just as Zhou Weiguo was rubbing his temples, his secretary, Zhao Changhe, walked in with a straight face.
Zhao Changhe was a clone. His name was also given to him by Zhou Weiguo. There was no other way. Although he was using these people in the government, he was not at ease with these people now, so he did not dare to use them as secretaries. Therefore, after thinking about it, the clone was the most loyal to him, so he was the most at ease.
"My old friend? Did he say who it was?"
Zhou Weiguo frowned. Old friend? Could it be Liu Yuan again? But this shouldn't be the case. If it was Liu Yuan, he could have just told him his name! There was no need to be so mysterious.
"No! He only said that he's an old friend of yours!"
Zhao Changhe shook his head.
Zhou Weiguo licked his lower lip and said,""Ask him to meet me in my office!"
"Yes, sir!"
After a while, there was the sound of footsteps. The office door was pushed open. Zhou Weiguo looked up and was stunned.
"Uncle Gen!"
Zhou Weiguo called out in a daze and immediately said to Zhao Changhe,"Close the door. I want to meet an important guest. No one is allowed to enter!”
The door was closed. Zhou Gen looked at Zhou Weiguo and said excitedly,""Second Young Master, that's great. You're really not dead. After the Nanjing defense war, the old master has been sad. He thought you were dead. It was only when the news of you reached Suzhou some time ago that Old Master was relieved.”
"Dad…Dad…Is Dad alright?”
Zhou Weiguo stammered a few times before he finally called out. Although he didn't want to, he was still his father in name.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。